Somewhere Safe
by S. Rune
Summary: Loki could feel his pride – what was left of it, shatter. He, who has escaped the walls of Asgard under Heimdall's ever watchful eyes, can escape anything. Focusing on that idea, Loki shape shifted and fled the scene, letting his magic guide him to a place where he would be safe. AU to the Avengers. Light slash Loki/Harry.


Discliamer: I own nothing.

**A/N:** I wanted to write a Loki/Harry fic for a while now.

* * *

Despite the popular notion, Harry can still speak parseltongue. In fact, one can say he takes immense pleasure in speaking and reading it. He isolates himself from the rest of the wizarding world in one of the Black's properties in France. The small mansion lies on the edge of a forest, leading to various snakes inviting themselves in Harry's home if only to see the last speaker. And Harry for his part doesn't deny them; he came to enjoy the company of snakes more than that of people, his people at least. With their numerous and desperate ways to attach themselves to him, if only to seem like they are in the favour of Harry Potter, the bloody saviour.

In his isolation Harry spends his time reading and practising his magic. With nothing banned or hidden from him and under the tutelage of the numerous portraits in the mansion Harry flourishes. His life could be considered dull and lacking when compared to what he was once used to, and although he misses how the adrenalin rushed through his veins, he is quite content with where he is and how things are.

000

Puny God.

_Puny God. _

**_Puny. God. _**

These words kept repeating over and over again in his ears, Loki couldn't believe it. He was a God, he knew magic neither Thor nor Odin could imagine and yet here he was, whimpering in pain caused by the hands of the monstrous human.

Loki could feel his pride – what was left of it, shatter. He, who has escaped the walls of Asgard under Heimdall's ever watchful eyes, can escape anything. Focusing on that idea, Loki shape shifted and fled the scene, letting his magic guide him to a place where he would be safe.

000

The first thing Loki heard when he opened his eyes, was "Oh, aren't you beautiful!" "Stay away you filthy human." Loki hissed as he recoiled back and hissed again in pain left by that green beast.

"There, there. You are hurt; some bones in your body have been fractured."

'_How come an ape understands what I am saying?_' Loki thought as he stood still. A moment later he voiced his question.

_"My name is Harry Potter and I am the last Speaker."_

000

The day has been saved and Stark avoided being kissed. He was telling the team about the Shawarma shop when Thor rendered him silent when he asked, "Where is Loki?"

Banner awkwardly explained that the _other guy _left him whimpering in pain in Stark's tower, he was sure to still be there since the _other guy _was quite irritated with the God and didn't hold himself back when he hit him, the team relaxed a bit at that – who would get up after that? It was quite unexpected when Thor let a colourful string of curses.

"Do you _humans _do nothing? The chances of Loki still lying there are lower than the chances of me fighting without Mjölnir!" Thor provided in English, tone icy.

"And how were we supposed to know that, O God of _Thunder_,"

"We will call Fury and he will sort this out and find him again." Steve intervened before a fight could break out.

000

It has been three days since Loki fell under the ape's care and he couldn't help but notice how this place was filled with snakes; the ape seemed to know each and every one by their given name. Loathe he to admit it but this vermin has great memory.

For the past three days and exactly at twelve o'clock, the ape seemed to disappear completely. Loki could no longer sense his presence. On the brighter side, Loki was getting better, he could move around the house without constantly hissing in pain – which left him to explore without interference. Thanks to that thick, slimy paste the human rubbed to his scales.

000

He would never admit it to any soul, but the longer it took S.H.E.I.L.D. to find Loki, Fury panicked more and more. With all the CCTV footage of that day –that S.H.E.I.L.D. got their hands on through both legal and illegal means– looked through and the rest on constant alert and still not a single frame of Loki was found. There was no footage of Loki escaping the tower either, and so Fury continued to slowly grow anxious and panic.

Fury feared that Loki is still a threat, that he is out there regrouping and gathering his forces. Although, even if they can't find his current whereabouts, they still have his sceptre and the tesseract and that was the only reassuring thought Fury could think off.

000

A week has passed now and Loki was completely healed. He is starting to see things he didn't notice before, pictures that move and jump from frame to the other, dishes that washed themselves, books flying at the wave of a finger. He is amazed, never would he have thought that the under evolved apes would reach this level of magic control.

"_Are all wizards this advanced?_" Loki asked Harry, who up till now had answered all of his questions about magic or wizards.

"_Well, it's rare to find wizards or witches able to perform magic without a wand, but then again I am the greatest wizard alive._"

000

Thor was constantly moving around, constantly pacing, always one word away from exploding –Tony had the bruise to prove it. He knew Loki was out there somewhere, what he didn't know was whether Loki moved on to the next thing that holds his interest or if he is truly just bidding his time. At times like this Thor wishes things were different, that he had been different when he was younger, he wishes he included Loki more, ridiculed him for his glaring differences far less, that he had defended him when others followed Thor's lead.

000

The first time Loki enters the library with Harry, he is warped around his wrist –it seems that Harry doesn't trust him to let him wrap himself around his neck yet, clever wizard. The amount of books in the library makes Loki long for his own books back home. He slithers across the desk reaching for the first open book and start looking at the pictures, a man seems to be screaming as another points his wand in a downward motion causing the arm to be bloodily severed. Loki doesn't know what to think of that, he never thought the wizard to be someone who enjoyed reading this kind of books.

"_You found __**Sanguinum Magica***__, huh_? _Cygnus said that if I learn anything from this book, I can read anything, please note that this is the nice fluffy part of the book. Come, I will show you where I stopped last night._" Harry said while reaching out for both Loki and the book.

000

Behind the façade of the arrogant multimillionaire, playboy lays a man who truly wants to make a change. After the fiasco with the Chitauri had ended Stark locked himself inside his lab and started searching for a sliver of the adopted brother. Banner invaded his self-imposed isolation twenty-four hours after it has started, silently making a place for himself and started aiding in the search. As far as the rest of the Avengers knew, the duo was locked up inventing new trinkets or searching for a cure for the _other guy._

Three days later and in an act of complete frustration Tony lashed out at the thunder god to move and look for Loki instead of his short temper and bossing everyone around. The punch he gets seems to put him back in action, he rushes to the lab as an idea came to mind.

Three weeks later and after a huge amount of caffeine consumption, Tony calls the rest of the team down to his lab to see the – hopefully successful, results of his inane idea.

"JARVIS," Tony calls out and the blank screen flares to life; a programme seems to start installing. "When you punched me – which was a Superman worthy punch, it came to me. _Superman!" _He explains as the programme is still starting up.

At the blank looks he received he continued, "Human bodies leave a biological print wherever they go –a warm empty chair, that sort of thing.

And I thought, this guy and his kin must be emitting their own biological prints, of course I was right. That stick was soaked up with that unique print after prolonged contact with Loki, but around two weeks ago it started to fade, three days later and it was completely gone," Tony's explanation came to a halt as he waited for...

"Then what have you been doing for the past two months? This programme shouldn't work." Steve asked, annoyed that Tony would not cut to the chase.

"That is where you are wrong! We have our very own alien here." Tony exclaimed, draping a hand over Thor's shoulders, who was about to push him off when JARVIS announced the programme is ready.

000

Loki was basking under the heat coming from the sun when a hand appeared in front of his line of vision, "We need to get inside. Now!" Harry didn't wait for Loki to wrap himself around his wrist as he snatched him and headed home with haste. Once in the safety of his home, Harry felt the wards tighten cutting him off from the rest of the world.

"I was feeding the other snakes when I felt it; I felt something would be coming. Something that had no place here." Harry whispered in a daze as he placed Loki around his shoulders, who wrapped himself around the human's neck feeling strangely proud and satisfied with the trust he was being subconsciously extended.

Still in a daze, Harry made his way over to the main room's fireplace. Mentally contemplating what just happened. He stood in front on the family portrait and called for Cygnus and Phineas. When they finally showed up he told them –and whoever else that came– about what happened, trusting them to keep his words to themselves, after all nothing is more important than blood.

A few moments of silence followed as Cygnus thought of his heir words. Phineas who didn't wait asked, "Are you sure?"

Before he could answer, he felt the same chill down his spine again, gasping in shock as it seemed to be stronger this time. "They cannot find us, they try and try again they will. Their scouts can almost feel it; they are confused by their limitations, by it, by us."

When it ended Harry was leaning against the wall taking in harsh breaths, trying to calm his racing heart, he looked up Cygnus was frowning, worried and angry with his inability to help.

000

Tony was staring at the screen observing the dim almost black 3D view of the planet, closely. Looking for a white spot to indicate his success.

"Jarvis, again and up the power." Tony ordered, voice cutting through the tense atmosphere. There was no white spot yet again.

For an hour Tony stubbornly ordered Jarvis to try again, not willing to admit or accept for that matter defeat. Unaware the many miles away a man was screaming in pain.

Just as he was about to order Jarvis to try again, his A.I. informed him that the programme is unsuccessful and that the past hour should be enough proof.

Turning around to assure the rest of the Avengers that he will be thinking of something else, he found himself alone in his lab. Oh, well, he would have been surprised if someone could keep up with him, Tony thought as he sipped coffee from his mug spewing it back at the horrid taste of cold coffee.

000

Twig was tending to his Master ever since he had collapsed yesterday. He gently massaged Master's throat to help him swallow the various potions: pain numbing potion, nutrition potion, dreamless sleep potion and core repletion potion.

Why would any creäture attack his Master? Twig wondered as he changed the wet towel on his Master's forehead and the bed sheets with a snap of his fingers. He also made sure to keep that snake that wouldn't part with his Master warm.

000

Harry tossed and turned before he woke up. Opening his eyes, Harry smiled as he felt Teufel move across his arm till he was directly in front of his eyes.

"You stayed," Harry said sleepily, "Thank you Teufel... I know you are not a snake." He mumbled before falling asleep again.

The next time he opened his eyes he was alone in the bed, thinking of yesterday hurt. After the second chill, he felt as the wards were being probed and pressured, as if something was trying to force its way in. He doubted many would have been able to react the same way he did, since none is as powerful or connected to their magic as Harry is.

Sighing, he shifted to get up and was startled when he found Teufel staring at him from the nightstand. Calmly stretching his hand for Teufel to wrap himself around it, Harry breathed in relief that Teufel didn't reject him. Guess he will have to wait for him to open up and talk to him.

Loki didn't know whether to be furious or relieved. The human who came this close to discovering his secret is the same one who defended him not two days ago –without even knowing that it was him he was defending.

Loki decides to test the human and then he will know what to do.

"_Would you care if I told you a truth you didn't like?_" Loki asked Harry in the library.

"_Nothing you would say would upset me, Teufel._" Harry answered while running his fingers on Teufel's scales.

Loki let the subject drop for the day. On the next day, Loki asked Harry another question after he woke up.

"_Would you care if I turned to be something you didn't expect?_"

"_Nothing you did would turn me against you, Teufel._" Harry answered voice still raspy from sleep.

For six days in a row Loki asks Harry various questions that all revolved around the same idea and each time he received answers that were essentially the same. According to Harry's words, nothing Loki would say, do will change Harry's behaviour, upset him, make Harry distrust him.

On the seventh day Harry woke up to a strange man dressed in tattered clothes in his bed.

Inwardly Harry couldn't be happier. Teufel finally trusts him! Outwardly, Harry pulled Teufel near and engulfed him in a hug.

To Loki, seeing Harry with Asgardian eyes is a very different experience from seeing his with the snake's eyes. When Loki caught his first glimpse of Harry's green eyes he was amazed, and when Harry grabbed him and engulfed him in a hug Loki felt the ache inside lessen a bit, as if soothed.

He stilled in Harry's hug for a minute before he broke down and started sobbing. At the same time he tried to tell him everything about himself, his dreams, how in helping his brother grows Loki pushed Thor further away. How the other gods laughed as his brother held him down for the goblin to sew his lips shut. He even tells him about his time with Thanos and how the sceptre fuelled the pain and rage inside him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind Loki wonders if this was an act of magick on the human's part.

Hours later when Loki finished and had no more tears to shed, he found himself leaning against Harry's chest with Harry's arms around him, listening to Harry's tale.

"I was born on July the 31st 1580, son of James and Lily Potter," Harry starts to tell Loki the truth with his eyes closed and right hand carding through Loki's hair. He tells him of a madman bent on killing him and another man who wanted the best but forgot what the best is.

"What everyone got wrong is the prophecy;_**Either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.**_ By killing Vlodemort I sacrificed my death, by killing him I can never die, never see my family, my friends, never move on.

I am the most powerful wizard in existence because I am the oldest wizard in existence."

000

Tony was sulking in front of his coffee. He sulks more when everyone stopped trying to talk him out of trying to find Loki after a month since the programme failure, even worse they don't approach him. Even Bruce and Pepper are giving him space. He knew his programme works but he cannot find a reason why it didn't. He hopes that when Thor returns he can bring news from Heimdall.

Back in Asgard Heimdall has been giving Frigga reports about Loki ever since he fell. He tells the Queen about the unlikely home Loki found and that Loki trusted this man enough that he told him how to avoid Heimdall's eye and that is the last thing he saw.

Frigga smiles and makes sure to tell Thor the news when he returns. And when Thor goes to the Avengers he tells Tony that Heimdall knew nothing. Later in his room Thor lies back in his bed and goes to sleep with a smile.

Half way across the world Loki smiles as Yellow Bedstraw begin to sprout. He goes back inside and goes to the library where Harry is and kisses his neck. Harry looks up and gives Loki a brilliant smile. Loki smiles back and go to find a book to read. He hasn't been this content in a long time.

* * *

The End

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**Edit: According to my German anon, Schelmisch is not a name, it is an adj. and it's like naming your pet "intelligent" so I changed the name to "Teufel" which is supposed to be a nickname given to a mischievous person or one who is devil-like.**

**I am sorry if I offended anyone by my misuse of German. (Blame Google translate. :/)**

**Sanguinum Magicae** means bloodthirsty magic in Latin.

Loki's snake form is the **_Trimeresurus trigonocephalus._**

Imortal!Harry idea from thejediramblings. Cover art by the lovely Satanoy. Both used with permission.

**A/N:** This idea has been sitting in my hard drive for months, I wanted it to be longer and more fleshed out but I can't bring myself to edit it and build on it any more.


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